Economy
As a colony first established by a small group of settlers brought to Mahida by The Three Queens, Bridlane's economy is still developing. The colonists' original goal of plundering the vast wealth of an uninhabited continent having proven more difficult than expected, the focus soon shifted to resource extraction efforts located around the Bridlane Safe Zone. Although the economy has grown with the increasing population, limited living space, the comparative expense of extracting the Safe Zone's resources, and the overbearing presence of the Guaviran bureaucracy within city limits has caused immigration to dwindle, leaving the population to grow mainly through natural increase. Despite these setbacks, great opportunities lie in expeditions to Mahida's interior and if the Safe Zone is expanded or valuable resources discovered Bridlane's course may yet be corrected. Overview Bridlane operates a traditional market economy with a heavy regulatory presence around the capital that rapidly diminishes along with population density. The absence of land sufficient to build large estates and the relative poverty of Bridlanian nobility has led to a near absence of the feudal structure still present in much of Motageem. The economy as a whole is moderately deflationary, with growth held down by reliance on specie, limited development of the natural resources available, abundant regulation, unemployment, and low wages. As long as Bridlane is dependent on imports for a substantial portion of its basic needs and lacks demand for unskilled labor, the city's size will actually act as a detriment to future growth. Most of Guavira's exports are in aquatic natural resources, extricable minerals in the Safe Zone, and finished goods. Seafood represents a large proportion of the average Guaviran's diet, supplemented by vegetables grown in small gardens throughout the city. Some of these are delicate herbs grown for export in Bridlane's gentle climate, but the vast majority of the arable land within the city is needed to offset the city's massively expensive import of food. Contrary to popular belief, the fields outside of the city do not provide any of the cereals the are commonly used in the local diet, instead being used to grow a variety of cash crops. Most grains are imported, generally in the form of oats for ease of transport. Large scale exploitation of the rich natural resources of the uninhabited continent has not occurred, although limited and well guarded prospecting expeditions occur intermittently. Population Nobility Bridlane's nobility consists of eight Great Families, each established by a personal friend or companion of the Queens, and a few dozen minor houses who have been recognized primarily due to their wealth or services to the Crown. Although all of these people are wealthy beyond belief compared to the average citizen, they are paupers compared to the nobility of foreign courts. Most of their income arises through the letting of buildings in the city and a Civil List paid by the Crown. While serving to keep any struggling families out of penury, the List also serves as a powerful tool for the queens against the schemes of the nobility, as they constantly compete over their share of the list. The nobility is distinguished by several rights and obligations, accumulated over the history of Bridlane: * Right to a portion of the Civil List (though not a particularly sized portion) * Freedom from taxation based on their income * Freedom to travel to any place in Bridlane * Right to petition the Queens for redress of grievances. (This effectively means immunity from normal courts in favor of direct royal judgment. You come at the Duke, you best not miss) * Duty to provide counsel to the Queens and their servants when called upon * Duty to defend Bridlane in times of strife Citizens A citizen refers not to a subject of the Crown, but rather a legal resident of the City of Guavira. This residence initially required that a citizen own real property within the city, but in the last century the laws have changed to recognize residency established via long term tenancy, reflecting the paucity of available land inside the city. The distinctions between citizens and freemen are limited, with citizens paying a lower income tax rate and bearing a duty to serve if called to defend the city as a militia. Despite their exalted title, most citizens live in relative poverty due to the low wages and slow economy of the city, with more than half serving as low-skilled laborers. Freemen All those foreigners lawfully travelling within Bridlane, as well as subjects of the Queens who reside outside Guavira. While this position was originally intended to act as a way of maintaining the power of the capital against a prosperous interior with higher taxes and limited governance rights, such distinctions are largely absent now. Despite the higher taxes placed on non-citizens, most freemen are actually wealthier than their citizen counterparts, as they are mostly traders or farmers producing cash crops outside the city walls. Unemployment among freemen is very low, as those who are down on their luck tend to be deported quickly by the Inkstained. Bonded Persons Guavira does not possess a substantial unfree population. Debt bondage is a common punishment when fines, which are the Guaviran justice system's preferred penalty, go unpaid, but such labor is of limited value and thus is rarely demanded. While some early Bridlanian settlers brought slaves to the continent, the initial period of expansion was too brief to support a slave economy. Most of the bonded laborers were either freed over the next several decades or sold onto visiting merchant ships. Some of the city's oldest buildings were erected using slave labor, and there is some historical interest in the carvings they left behind, which are just now being uncovered. Modern Bridlane lacks an abolitionist bent and does not interfere with foreign travelers when they bring slaves into the city, however it has banned the buying and selling of traditionally "civilized" species within Bridlane and its courts will not return escaped slaves to bondage, whether to visitors or abroad (although it would likely still deport them). Sectors Agriculture The land surrounding the Bay of Lobot is gentle and rolling, graced by an easy climate. The long, warm summers make the area excellent land for growing crops, however the small total area available for such use has greatly constrained the development of Bridlane's agriculture. While the lands surrounding the city were originally used for the growth of grains and vegetables, the ever present expansion of the Guavira's population has forced a change to cash crops to support the kingdom's ruinous balance of trade. Vast fields of sugarcane and tea surround the city to the edge of the Queens' Forest and every acre remains under constant cultivation, only going fallow when the cost of druidic enrichment exceeds the value of the lost crops. Within the city, every available surface is festooned with small window boxes and planters full of private vegetable crops. Even within the center of the city, the ornate formal gardens once installed by the Brids' commands have bent to the need for food, incorporating orchards, vinyards, and groves. Some efforts have been made, with moderate success, to grow crops on the west side of the river, but a series of attacks from Mahida's native wildlife make such operations expensive. It is said in certain circles that the Brids intend to perform their Third Miracle and expand the Safe Zone once more by raising a new wall, this time to a distance of twenty leagues from the Arrival Stone. If such a plan is intended, however, the Queens are saying nothing and many are skeptical that even their might is enough to raise a third wall by magic and one more than two hundred miles long at that. Lumber Much of the early construction of the city owes itself to the plentiful and sturdy trees that once dotted the shores around the mouth of the Bay of Lodot. Watered for centuries by the sea breeze and the rivers repeated flooding, the trees fell in a decade to the logger's axe, fueling the initial rush of colonization. It was only when the trees were totally absent within the First Wall and gone for two miles outside it that cooler heads prevailed. Wary of the constant attacks on loggers that occurred whenever expeditions entered the deep woods and certain that the Second Wall was only a stopgap, the Queens' officials banned all private logging efforts for a period of three years starting in 1260. The remaining woodland was declared the Queens' Forest and, as property of the Crown, it could only be logged by permission of the Inkstained. Over the next several decades a system of permits and heavy forest management emerged, which had remained into modern Bridlane. The trees of the new forest were carefully managed, subjected to constant coppicing and pollarding to maximize the usable lumber. In recent years even the Queens' Forest has been insufficient to provide for the basic needs of the city and, given the price of shipping lumber long distances, the loggers have once again begun to venture out beyond the Second Wall. Although these expeditions usually remain in sight of the Wall, several have disappeared without a trace and there is a limit to how dangerous a task may be before even the hungry poor of Guavira's slums think it too risky... Mining and Quarrying The land surrounding Guavira is not tremendously rich in mineral resources, however the city does have access to enough materials to meet its basic needs. Guavira rests upon significant, though deep, deposits of slate which have been quarried extensively for the gray stone which forms most non-wooden structures. Off the coast, an additional deposit of shale has been exploited on one of the islands and both deposits have significant inclusions of iron, copper, and zinc. Despite the sufficiency of these resources for most tasks, all precious metals need to be imported, or panned for in the interior. This has lead to a significant lack of specie, exacerbating the already deflationary economy. Proposals to mitigate this by the creation of a non-precious currency have been made several times, but have been repeatedly rejected due to lobbying from lenders and the objections of The Gilded Pockets. Presence of Goods Local Goods Homespun, leatherwork, basic tools, fur, fish, lumber, vegetables, sandstone, slate, and sugarcane Nearby City (Tideterie or Common on Ships) Precious stones, precious metals, salt, whalebone, whale oil, liquor and beer Distant City Anything else WIP Underlined sections need to be fact checked, not sure I recall what you originally said Maria